Fork Opinions

[joe]

I'm very close to buying a new Giant VT2. The stock fork on the bike is a Rockshox Psylo XC. I've been giving some thought to swapping the Psylo for a Fox Talas RLC.

Does anyone have any experience with the Talas forks or any thoughts on what else I should be looking at to upgrade to from a Psylo (or just want to tell me that the Psylo is a great fork and I should leave it be)?

joe

[bike187]

the new psylos are supposed to be drasticly improved in stiffness over previous years. larger crowns and bushings no experince on the new ones though. could just be media hype.

no experiencs on fox forks yet

how much will it cost you to upgrade to the fox? are selling the fork yourself and then buying the fox or having the shop just switch them? because if you resell the fork again you have to take into consideration that it won't be worth as much with a cut steerer if the VT has a shorter steerer tube then other bikes.

[joe]

I think I'm going to go for a Fox Talas RL. The shop is charging me $250 for the upgrade. They're basically taking the Psylo XC off the bike and applying its retail value to the retail price of the Fox.. I kind of felt like the most I will ever get for that Psylo XC is the deal that the shop is willing to give me now.

joe

[NEMBA_bkr-dude]

wait, go with the fox vanilla rlc 125 I upgraded from an 02 SID sl to a 03 fox for only $75 and you get 5 inches of travel which will feel real nice on that bike

[MMcG]

wait, go with the fox vanilla rlc 125 I upgraded from an 02 SID sl to a 03 fox for only $75 and you get 5 inches of travel which will feel real nice on that bike


Here are some thoughts:

1. The Talas has adjustable travel as does the rear swinger shock on the VT right? Could make for a great combination. Probably better than going with the Vanilla as Biker Dude recommends.

2. I have a Psylo SL on my Balfa Belair and to me it works fine - but take that with a grain of salt because I'm coming off a bike with an 80mm Manitou Six fork on it. Also of note, when I was inquiring with Titus about a Switchblade, they recommended running a Psylo on it - so I suspect the Psylos are much improved for 2003. I've also heard people comment on improved Psylo performance when they went with a heavier weight oil in the fork over the stock Rock Shox oil. Perhaps you could ask your LBS about this option at purchase.

3. The Talas is relatively new technology so there may be some "bugs" that may arise - but then again maybe not as Fox Forx have proven reliable in the short amount of time they've been available. There are probably some reviews of the Talas on MTBR.com by now - could be worth a look to see what initial impressions are on the fork.

4. Definitely do the swap with the LBS whichever way you go.

And

5. Be sure to tell us how you like the Talas if you go that route!

Cheers,

Mark